In 2009 he moved out of his parents' house and took various jobs to support himself. He said he has worked at Starbucks, Tesco, and Rag & Bone. "I wanted to not rely on anyone else," he has said of the experience. "My parents would have loved to help me out, and I had no doubt about that, but I wanted to do this thing for myself, to like, do the whole living in the city on my own thing. That first job at Starbucks was a real eye opener."
In 2010 he came out to his family. In 2015 interview with Gay Times Magazine, he said: "My parents've mostly been cool with it. They weren't over the moon about it or anything, and it took them a little while to get used to the idea, but yeah, they've come around. I've never felt like I could bring a guy home to meet them, but that's not really their fault. Anyway, I think both of them just have a hard time with it because they want the best for me. It comes from a positive place. At least, I assume it does." He is a vocal supporter for LGBT rights and has noted how adamant he was about "keeping male pronouns in [his] songs because it's fucking important." He has spoken out about being bullied in school.
The band released their first single proper "Traps" in September 2013 with Deshpande on lead vocals. In February 2014 they released their second single "Real" on Kitsuné and iTunes. The music video featured actors Ben Whishaw and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. In January 2015 they were announced winners of the BBC Sound of 2015. Their most successful single, "King", released under Polydor, headed straight to number one in the UK single charts in March 2015, earning the band national recognition. Their debut studio album, Communion, was released on 10 July, 2015 and entered the UK Album Chart at number 1.
Deshpande has been very candid about his sexuality. He has given many interviews in which he asserts the importance of speaking about LGBT issues and of representing LGBT individuals as someone in the spotlight. "It was hard because we only had this one chance to get a debut album out, but at the same time I knew that I had to get myself truly on that album. I knew I had to be careful with the way I phrased things. It may seem like such a tiny thing, but I'm really proud of the fact that I got a few male pronouns onto Communion. I feel good about it. A few years ago I couldn't even write male pronouns in my journal, which no one was reading but me."
Figure Nine is currently on tour.
Deshpande was in a relationship with Restless Fugitive's drummer Jett Hooper from May to September 2015. In September 2015 the two kissed on stage during one of Hooper's shows. Shortly thereafter, the couple split for unspecified reasons. He is currently rumoured to be dating musician Jay Lussier.